Portable computing devices, such as media players, cellular telephones, PDAs and the like, are becoming omnipresent. With a multitude of manufacturers competing for sales of these devices in retail markets, the need to provide state of the art features and content on a device that very aesthetically pleasing is increasing. This is particularly true given the nature of consumers to desire portable computing devices that are “hip” or “cool” looking, with many purchasing decisions for such devices being affected by this particular desire. Accordingly, the outer look or feel of a portable computing device can be a critical factor in device design.
One design challenge associated with portable computing devices is the composition and appearance of the outer housing or enclosure that is used to house the various internal components of the portable computing device. A seamless, smooth and/or sleek look is often highly desired, with metal or other similar materials being preferable. Some solutions to these issues have involved the use of an outer housing that is tubular in nature. Various examples of and methods of manufacturing such tubular outer housings can be found in, for example, commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 10/884,172 and 11/501,184, filed on Jul. 2, 2004, and Aug. 7, 2006 respectively, both of which are entitled “HANDHELD COMPUTING DEVICE,” and both of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties and for all purposes. Such outer housings can be used on, for example the iPod® media player or iPhone® cellular telephone made by Apple Inc., among other suitable portable computing devices or items.
One drawback to a common approach of manufacturing a generally metallic outer housing for a portable computing device is that metal can be a poor material choice where electromagnetic wave transmissions through the material are desired. For example, a cellular telephone that requires radio frequency transmissions to operate must either have an external antenna or a region in the housing through which radio waves can pass. As a more detailed example, because no external antenna was used on the iPhone® 2G cellular telephone made by Apple Inc., its metallic outer housing included a plastic portion located proximate to an internal antenna or receiver region. This design permitted most of the outer housing to be aluminum, but also required a smaller region of plastic to allow for radio frequency communications through the outer housing.
Unfortunately, the use of two different materials for the outer housing results in a seam between the materials, as well as the likelihood of a two-toned look in the overall look of the device. One solution to avoid such seams and two-toned appearances can be to use an outer housing that is comprised entirely of a “radio transparent” material, such as a hard plastic. One drawback to this approach, however, is that metallic surface finishes are thought by some to be more aesthetically pleasing than plastic surface finishes. In general, metallic surface finishes have a look and feel that tends to be harder, smoother and sleeker than plastic surface finishes. Thus, with respect to a portable electronic device that must be able to communicate via electromagnetic waves, a designer has traditionally needed to choose at least one of the lesser aesthetically pleasing alternatives involving an external antenna, a seam or seams on the outer housing, or an outer housing made entirely of plastic or some other radio transparent material.
While many designs and methods of manufacture for providing outer housings on portable computing devices and other similar items have generally worked well in the past, there is always a desire to provide new and improved designs that result in aesthetically pleasing and functional outer housings for such portable computing devices. In particular, it is desirable to provide a portable computing device that can communicate via electromagnetic waves, have an internal antenna, have no seams in the outer housing, and have an outer housing with a sleek and hard finish that is metallic or similar thereto.